Femi Falana, a human rights attorney, has criticized the Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal’s decision to declare Governor Abba Yusuf’s election invalid.
Speaking on Channels TV on Friday, the human rights attorney said that it was incorrect to exclude 165,000 ballots because they had not been stamped. According to him, the voters shouldn’t have been penalized by the judges for INEC mistakes.
“You cannot penalize voters for INEC’s mistakes. That’s what happened in Kano recently, he claimed, where it was reported that 165,000 ballots were not counted by INEC staff.
Falana went on, “We are pleading with our judges to uphold justice—substantial justice—in a manner that precludes penalizing voters for INEC’s mistakes. The ballot papers’ legitimacy cannot be contested.
“I believe that these are the areas where our judges will need to revisit their original plans.”